There is an old occult maxim which declares that—" Nothing is concealed from him who knows." No Mason is bound to conceal that which he has never learned in the Lodge. All else he receives as he learns any thing, places his own estimate upon its value, and becomes individually responsible for its use. It must be a matter of conscience, and be weighed in the balance of duty, and every one must abide by the result. If Masonry has lost the Royal Secret, or if it never possessed it, or if it was wrenched away in the very name of Religion little more than a century ago, all the same, it belongs to the Craft as the Heir-apparent of the Old Wisdom. But the time has come when no cable-tow can bind it. It now belongs to Humanity equally with the Mason. To this end has it been preserved throughout the centuries.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Three Lesser Lights - Enlighten Your Path

My wife says my blogs are to long, and nobody can understand them…Ouch.

Oh well, here is a short one, although it is Masonic in nature, an intuitive individual might find it enlightening.

Allow me to introduce to the three Lesser Lights of Freemasonry, the triad, or triangle of the Sun, Moon, and Mercury.

No I haven't forgotten what the ritual told me, that the Lesser Lights represent the Sun, Moon, and Master of the Lodge, I tend to agree with Brother Pike, “The Temple of Eleusis was lighted by a window in the roof. The sanctuary so lighted, Dion compares to the Universe, from which he says it differed in size alone; and in it the great lights of nature played a great part and were mystically represented. The images of the Sun, Moon, and Mercury were represented there and they are still the three lights of a Masonic Lodge; except that for Mercury, the Master of the Lodge has been absurdly substituted.” When one begins to look at the bigger picture you will plainly see that Mercury, symbolic of wisdom should be returned to its rightful place in the triad known as the Lesser Lights.

Freemasonry is old, as a matter of fact no one really knows how old, but that's not my field of interest, we'll leave that to the historians. The problem with being old is that many assume wrongly that because a tradition is old it must be out of touch with many of the advances made in philosophical thought and spiritual sciences, which couldn't be further from the truth. By its nature symbolic thought is progressive, in order to understand the veiled symbolism one must first attempt to find the universal meaning of a symbol, then the cultural as to how it is being used, and then to the personal, the level in which the symbol speaks to the individual. Think of it as learning a new language, a language made up of beautiful pictures.

Now let's get back on track. What we are discussing here is the triad of the Sun, Moon, and Mercury, although called the Lesser Lights, these three make up the highest level of spiritual enlightenment symbolized in the Masonic Temple, not in position, but in consciousness.

In position, the three Lesser Lights are symbolized by the Senior Deacon symbolic of Sun, the Junior Deacon symbolic of the Moon, and the Marshall symbolic of the messenger Mercury.

Now when we look at consciousness, and how the symbols allude to states of mind, the Sun is symbolic of divine Unity, called by many names, Divine Union, Self Realization, Nirvana, Samadhi, the end of the subject object dichotomy, the end of opposites.

Simplified, it’s the pinnacle of our journey, immortality can only happen when one reaches this level.

Please allow me before we continue to show you how symbolism progresses. The symbol of the Sun, which is also the symbol of gold, is the “point within a circle”. In today's modern psychology many symbolize the conscious mind as the tip of an iceberg, the ever so small pinnacle that is visible above the water line, with the largest portion unseen and below the water, a “point within a circle”. It's only when the above and the below become one do we become whole, “and the two shall become one flesh: so that they are no more two, but one flesh.” Mark 10:8.

So here we have this triad with the Sun at the apex, the highest level of consciousness, below it is the Moon and Mercury, both separate levels of consciousness that must be harmonized in order for one to progress to “Unity” consciousness, the Sun.

The Moon is symbolic of intuition, a necessary component to the spiritual path, insight in the sixth sense that must be tempered by Mercury, wisdom.

This is a state of consciousness that is a little hard to explain, how does one describe light to a blind man?

According to the dictionary intuition is defined as a "quick and ready insight;" and "the act or process of coming to direct knowledge without reasoning or inferring." It is derived from the Latin word "intueri" which means "to see within." It is a way of knowing, of sensing the truth without explanations. Someone my not consider themselves to be particularly spiritual or metaphysically adept yet may be quite good at following their gut instincts.

According to many Freemasonry a bye product of the “Enlightenment” is a “reason” based philosophical path with in roots in moral philosophy, a presumption that many within Freemasonry hold true today. Yet only intuition will assist those hoodwinked individuals go inside and uncover the true meaning. I promise you may know the rituals backward and forward, control your passions, practice charity, and read everything written about Freemasonry but without intuition you'll be stuck on a level that may have a few rungs above it.

Before we explore the level of Mercury, wisdom, allow me to share a very unscientific observation, believe it or not, but at least consider it.

Freemasonry itself mirrors society, the majority of Freemasons see Masonry as a Moral path, a kind of adult self help group that practices charity and makes good men better men. It has been my personal observation only about ten percent sees it as a spiritual tradition, not religious, spiritual in the sense that the initiate has a goal, in the western esoteric tradition we may call this Divine Union or Christ Consciousness. It has also been my observation that only about ten percent of all Freemasons in a Lodge actually attend meetings and ritual work within the Temple, another proof that most understand little of what they have started. It's kind of scary when we do the math, if only ten percent show up, and only ten percent of those get it, you may think we have a problem. But I don't think that's the case, I have the feeling Freemasonry has always functioned that way. As one who loves to read the old titles from learned brothers I have found this situation discussed by the best of them, here Brother Albert Pike tells it like it is; “Masonry, like all the Religions, all the Mysteries, Hermeticism and Alchemy, conceals its secrets from all except the Adepts and Sages, or the Elect, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve only to be misled; to conceal the Truth, which it calls Light, from them, and to draw them away from it.”, the fact is you need intuition to progress, reason and logic will only cause you to see one side of the coin.

I'm not really sure what the percentage of the population is what we call intuitive, some believe as little as twenty five percent, or how many left handed individuals with right intuitive brain dominance compare to the right handed logical dominant left brain individuals, but fear not with a little bit of insight and understanding a new world is there for those that are willing to think outside the bun and step into the world of intuition.

Enough of the respectful critiquing I don't want the wrath of the Apollo to comes down upon me.

In order to progress to the level of intuition we need wisdom, not to be confused with knowledge which can actually be an impediment on our path. The more you think you know the more you judge, the more open you are the more you perceive, dump those judgments and see things as they actually are. When you get to the level of Mercury your ego is on its way out, wisdom keeps intuition from becoming fanciful imagination. Only until wisdom and intuition become one does our consciousness advance to the Sun, a task rarely accomplished, yet possible.

What you have read will not be understood by ninety percent of the population, the other ten will say “I knew that”. Where percentage are you?

Scathing, yet profound:“Their truths shared the fate of other truths; they were misunderstood and rejected by the ignorant, who continually clamor for truth and reject it when it is offered, because, being blind, they are unable to see it; their science is known only to those who are able to grasp it. Theology and Masonry have—each in its own manner—continued the teachings of the Alchemists, and fortunate is the Mason or the priest who understands that which he teaches. But of such true disciples there are only few.”…Magic White and Black, or, the Science of Finite and Infinite Life, Franz Hartmann

Oh gallant Knights, in fitting garb arrayed, With helmet high, and cross and glittering blade— Brave warriors in a warfare not to cease Till wearied souls shall find perpetual peace, While in this noble chamber met, Where zeal and light and love abound, Let's sit around the Master's feet, And listen to the gracious sound: The Master — Prince Immanuel The sound — His word we love so well!

I came across these pictures while surfing the web. What a beautiful Masonic mausoleum!

I put this together as a mini movie so I could add the music to create the right ambiance. Enjoy!!